Photographic-printing frame.



PATENTED DEC. 8, 1908.

M. W. ARMSTRONG.

PHOTOGRAPHIO PRINTING FRAME.

APPLICATION FILED MARJBO. 1903.

N0 MODEL.

C71 l orgcy s III"' UNITED STATES Patented December 8, 1903.

PATENT OEETCE.

PHOTOGRAPHEG-PRENTENG Ftlr lfvl E.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 746,234, dated December8, 1908.

Application filed March 30, 1903.

To (tZZ whom it may concern:

Be ltknown that I, MILTON W. ARMSTRONG, a citizen of the United States,residing at East Otto, in the county of Oattaraugus and State of NewYork, have invented a new and useful Photographic-Printing Frame, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates to photographic-printing frames, and moreespecially to frames for printing from negatives made on celluloid orother flexible supports.

The object of the invention is to provide a printing-frame by means ofwhich the difficulties of printing from negatives made on celluloidfilms may be in great measure avoided; and the invention consistsin theconstruction and combination of parts of the photographic-printing framehereinafter described and claimed, and shown in preferred form in theaccompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in whichcorresponding parts are designated by the same characters of referencethroughout the various views.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a view in longitudinal section of aprinting-frame constructed in accordance with my invention withfilm-spools, negative-film, and printingpaper shown in position on theframe. Fig. 2 is a view in rear elevation of the printingframe shown insection in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 isa detail view in elevation of one of thespoolholding members. Fig. 4 is a sectional view through the casing 19on the line 4c t in Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings in detail, 1 designates a curved plate whichforms a support or backing for photographic film and paper d uring theprinting processand to which are attached the other portions of theprintingframe. The curved plate 1 is formed, preferably, of wood, havinga series of parallel grooves disposed transversely across the backthereof, as shown, to permit the ready bending of the Wood and having onits convex surface a coating 2, of felt or othersnitable fabric. On theconcave surface or back of the plate 1 is mounted a guide 3, whichextends longitudinally of the plate and consists of the central or bodyportion at, -held in contact with the plate by means of screws 5,disposed near the ends, and the lateral ribs 6, which are held away fromthe back of the curved plate, as shown. At one end of the guide SerialNo. 150,311. (No model.)

there is soldered or otherwise fastened thereto a curved metal plate 7,whose utility will presently be explained.

Mounted to slide on the guide 3 and hav ing ends bent to engage thelateral ribs 6 is a reciprocating carrier 8, to which is secured thespring 9 and a lug 10, which forms ahandle, whereby the carrier may bereadily moved along the guide.

The spring 9 is secured atits middle to the carrier 8, as shown, and ison either side of the point of attachment to the carrier bent away fromthe plate 1, as shown, but has its ends bent toward the plate, so as tolie in planes substantially perpendicular to said plate.

Pivotallyattached to either end of the spring 9 is asupport 11 foraspoolS,on which is wound the celluloid or other flexible photographicfilms. One of the supports 11 consists merely of the pivoted plate 12,having a short stud 13 centrally mounted in the main portion thereof andhaving preferably mounted on the stud 1-3 a washer 1a to keep the end ofthe spool from coming into Contact with the plate 12, while theothersupport 11 comprises a plate 12 similar in form to that alreadymentioned and having rotatably mounted thereon a short shaft 15,terminating at its inner end in a transverse]y-disposed ,lug l6 and theflange 17 integral therewith. At the other end the shaft has a lug 18rigidly secured thereto to form a suitable thumb-andfinger hold when itis desired to rotate the shaft. On the outer surface of the plate 12 andencircling the shaft 15 is a casing 19, secured in any desired manner tothe plate 12 and containing a coiled spring 20, the outer end of whichis detachably fastened to the casing, as shown, and the inner end ofwhich is bent to form a loop or hook 21, which is adapted to engage witha recess 22 of suitable shape,provided in the portion of the shaft 15,encircled by the casing when the shaft is rotated in the directionindicated by the arrow in 4t, but which disongages from the recess inthe shaft when rotated in an opposite direction.

On the back of the plate 1,0pposite the point at which the middle plate17 is attached, are provided another pair of supports for a spool forphotographic film. One of these supports,

which is designated as 24, consists of the ear 25, which issecured tothe back of the plate 1, as shown, and the portion 26, bent at rightangles to the plane of the ear 25 and terminating in substantiallycircular end, in the center of which is mounted a short shaft 27, havingat the inner end a lug 28 and late gral flange 29 and at the outer end asimilar flange 30 and a larger lug 31 to form suitable thumb-and-fingerhold wuen it is desired to rotate the shaft.

In order to control the direction of rotation of the shaft 27, theflange 2!) is provided on its periphery with small notches, andpivotally mounted in the openingiu the portion 26 of the su pport is aratchet 32, held by a spring 33 on the inner surface of the said portion26 of the support in contact with the periphery of the flange 2.), thuspermitting rotation in the direction indicated in Fig. 3, but normallyacting to prevent rotation in the opposite direction.

If it should be any time desirable to rotate the shaft 27 in thedirection opposite to that permitted by the ratchet, it may be done bypressing upon the projection 3% on the outer surface of the portion 26of the support. This projection 34 is the bent end of the ratchet 32,which extends through the opening in the support 24, in which it ispivoted, and pressure upon it in the direction indicated by the arrow inFig. 3 will cause disengagement of the ratchet with the flange 29 andpermit the shaft 27 to be rotated in the direction opposite to thatnormally permitted by the ratchet.

Cooperating with the support 24 to hold a spool of film is a support 35,comprising an arm 36, slidably mounted in a guide 37 and having itsmovement therein limited by the upturned end38 of the arm 36 and thecontact of said upturned end with one of the lateral ribs 6 on the guide3. The arm 36 isintegral with a portion 39 of the support disposed atright angles to said arm and consisting, mainly, of a substantiallycircular portion having centrally mounted therein a pin or stud 40.

Pivot-allyattachedjto the plate 1 by means of screws as, set in theopposite sides of said plate 1 near the spoolsupports 2e and 35 is aclamp, which serves to hold the photographic film and paper in firmcontact with one end of the curved plate 1. This clamp consists,preferably, of arms s3, pivoted on the screws 42, above mentioned, andhaving rigidly mounted between their free ends a rod ate, which ispreferably covered with a sleeve 15, of rubber or thin metal, which isrotatable on the rod 44, and an operatinghandle, comprising a crossbara, soldered at its ends to the arm and having a hook or linger-piece e7rigidly attached thereto at about the middle, as shown.

In using my printing-frame an empty filmspool is mounted between thesupports 24c and 35, this being readily accomplished by drawing thesupport 35 outward until the stop 38 comes into contact with theguidesleeve 37, thus affording snl'licient space between the supports24: and 35 for the introduction of the empty film -spool between them.As ordinarily made, such film-spools are provided with a transverse slotat one end, said slot being adapted to engage readily with a lug, suchas 28, and when the spool is placed in position between the supportsthis slot should be engaged by the lug 28, so that rotation may beimparted to spools by turning the shaft 27. The other end of the spoolhas a central opening, into which the stud e0 may be readily inserted byforcing the support 35 inward until the stop 38 contacts with one of theribs 6 on the guide 3. The spool containing the negative wound thereon,with the gelatin side outward, is next introduced between thespool-supports 11, pivotally mounted on the ends of the spring 9. Thisis readily accomplished by springing said supports outward against theaction of the spring suflicieutly to introduce the spool between themand spring the stud 13 into engagement with one end and the lug 16 intoengagement with the transverse slot provided in the other end of thespool. The spool should of course be in such position that. when theouter end of the negative-film is unwound somewhat, so as to be passedunder the clamp and secured to the empty spool at the opposite end ofthe prin ting-frame, it will unwind from the side of the spool which isadjacent the front surface of the curved plate 1, as shown in thedrawings.

In order to attach the outer end of the negative to the empty spool, thefilm-containing spool is moved by sliding the reciprocating carrier 8along the guide on the back of the curved plate into proximity with theempty spool. By pulling upon the outer end of the negative-film itiwillbe unwound from the spool which rotates between the supports 11, and theend of the film may be passed under the clamp and inserted into theusual slot provided for that purpose in the empty spool. By then givingthe lug 3i a few turns in the direction permitted by the ratchet; 32 theend of the film may be wound around an empty spool far enough to bringthe first negative of the film into position for printing. The paper toreceive the print from the negative is then inserted under thefilm-containing spool far enough for the end of the paper to besubstantially over the end of the plate which is adjacent to the clamp,and the filmcontaining spool is then moved back to the opposite end ofthe plate 1 by sliding the reciprocating member 8 along its guide untilit contacts with the curved plate 7, which acts as a stop therefor. Asthe lilurcontaining spool is moved in this direction the spool isrotated between the supports. As the lilm unwinds rotation is alsoimparted to theshort shaft 15 through the engagement of the log 16 withthe transverse slot in the end of the spool. This rotation is in thedirection which causes the book 21 at the end of the spring 20 to engagewith a recess provided in the shaft 15, and consequently the spring isput under tension. The object of this tension is to insure suflicientstrain upon the negative-film to insure proper printing contact with thesensitized paper and the plate 1 and cause the removal of any kinks inthe film. 'When the carrier 8 reaches the end of the guide 3 and comesinto contact with the stop '7, the filmcontaining spool may be forcedover the end of the curved plate 1 by the yield of spring 9 and broughtinto contact with the concave surface of the plate 7, thus leaving thefront surface of the curved plate 1 entirely unobstructed and holdingthefilm-spool firmly in position during the printing from the negative uponthe paper under it.

When it is desired to examine the print to determine the progress of theprinting operation, the film-spool may be forced out of its contact withthe plate '7 from the end of the curved plate 1 and moved toward theopposite end of the frame by sliding the carrier 8 along its guide. Asthe spool is moved toward the opposite end of the frame the tension uponthe spring 21 causes the spool to rotate so as to wind up the film onthe spool as it moves forward and leaves the end of the print exposed toview without any handling thereof being necessary. After examining theprint the film-spool is returned to its position in contact with thecurved plate 7 and the process continued as before.

After a sufiicient number of prints have been made from the firstnegative on the film more of the film will be wound upon the spoolbetween the supports 24 and 35 and the second negative unwound from thefilm-spool, and so on throughout the entire series of negatives on thefilm.

If it is desired to print from short films containing single negatives,one end of the film and the paper thereunder may be clamped upon theface of the printing-frame by means of the clamp and the other end woundon the spool held between the supports 11, as shown.

It will be seen that with a printing-frame as hereinbefore describeditis impossible for the film to curl while the printing-paper is beingplaced in position; that the whole spool of film may be kept in onepiece and stored on the same spool and in the box in which it waspurchased; that no means is required to keep the film fiat; that thenecessity of treating the film with glycerin to make the negativesremain fiat is obviated, and hence the.

tendency of the films to collect dust and lint which is produced by theglycerin treatment is done away with; that with a frame of sufficientwidth it is possible to print from a film of any length or width thatmay be desired; that the frame may be used to print panoramic views andsuch prints be examined without danger of the paper slipping from itsproper position; that a print may be examined to determine the progressof the printing process without handling the surface of the paper, andthat cut films and roll-films may be used in the printing-frame withequal facility.

Having thus described my invention, what Iclaim as now, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination in aphotographic-printing frame, of aprinting-surface, devices fixed in position atone end of saidprinting-surface for reinovablysupportingafilm-spool,a clamp adjacent tosaid fixed devices to engage a film, and devices movable on the framefor removably holding the film-spool.

2. The combination in a photographic-printing frame, of aprinting-surface, devices fixed at one end of said printing-suface forremovablysupportinga film-spool, ratchet-controlled winding mechanismprovided on said spoolsupporting devices, and devices movable on theprinting-frame for removably supporting a film-spool. I

3. The combination in a photographic-printing frame, of a curved platewhose convex face forms a printing-surface, devices for removablysupporting a film-spool fixed in position at one end of saidprinting-surface, a member slidably mounted on the concave surface ofsaid curved plate, and devices for removably supporting a film-spoolmounted on said slidable member.

4. The combination in a photographic-printing frame, of a plate forminga printing-surface, devices for removably supporting a filinspool fixedat one end of said plate upon one face thereof, longitudinal guides onthe opposite face of said plate, a member mounted to slide on saidguides, and devices for removably supporting a film-spool carried bysaid member.

5. The combination in a photographic-printing frame of a curved platehaving a convex face forming a printing-surface, stationaryspool-supporting devices at one end of said plate, alongitudinally-disposed guide on the concave surface of said plate, acarrier slidably mounted on said guide, aspring attached to said carrierand having pivotally secured to its ends supporting devices for afilm-spool, and a stop at one end of said guide to limit the movement ofsaid slidable member thereon.

'6. The combination in a photographic-printing frame of a curved platehaving its convex face adapted to form a printing-surface, stationaryspool-supporting devices at one end of said plate,spring-supportedmovable spoolsupporting devices at the opposite end of said plate, and aprojection against which the film-spool is held by said movablesupporting devices.

7. The combination in a photographic-printing frame of a plate having aprinting-surface, devices at one end of said plate to grip thephotographic film and hold it in contact with said printingsurface, andmovable spoolsupporting devices which may be brought into juxtapositionwith said gripping devices and moved to the opposite end of said plate,said spool-supporting devices being provided with means for yieldablyopposing the rotation of the spool held between them when turned in onedirection and to permit their rotation in the opposite direction.

8. The combination in aphotographic frame of spoolsupporting devicescomprisinga shaft having a lug adapted to engage a transverse slot inthe end of a film-spool, and a coiled spring wound around said shaft andadapted to yieldahly oppose rotation thereof in one direction and topermit free rotation in the opposite direction.

9. The combination in a photographic-printing frame of a plate one ofwhose faces forms a printing-surface, a clamp adapted to hold thephotographic film and paper in contact with said printing-surface, saidclamp comprising pivoted arms,and a cross-rod between i said armscompletely encircled by a sleeve rotatable thereon and adapted to bebrought into clamping contact with one end of said plate.

10. The combination in a photographicprinting frame of aplate one faceof which forms a printing-surface and a clamp adapted to hold aphotographic film and paper in contact with said printing-surface, saidclamp comprising pivoted arms, across-rod between said arms encircled bya sleeve of elastic material and adapted to be brought into clampingcontact with the end of said plate.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

MILTON W. ARMSTRONG.

Witnesses:

J OHN P. MATTESON, MARC L. ELLswoRTH.

